


Swimming Lessons

by Glitteringworlds



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:57:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3837928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitteringworlds/pseuds/Glitteringworlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raine had helped her make a pact with Volt, and Sheena felt like it was only fair to try and return the favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swimming Lessons

Raine assumed, when the group decided to stop off for a while and relax near Mizuho, that she would be allowed a quiet afternoon in the shade of a just tree at the outskirts of Gaoracchia Forest’s heavy cover. Genis and Lloyd were running around showing Colette the sights, Zelos was heaven-knew-where (and surely heaven alone cared), Regal and Presea were hardly the prying types, and Sheena, Raine had assumed, would be busy around her village.

Which meant a long overdue chance to flip through Boltzmann’s Book and ruminate on the strange feeling that had been niggling at her ever since arriving at Tethe’alla. She had hardly been able to steal away a single moment for herself since leaving Iselia, between the Chosen’s journey and the complications continually arising along the way. So when Raine heard hesitant footsteps coming up from behind her, she couldn’t help but let out a small, put-upon sigh as she turned around to see who it was.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sheena stood a few yards away, looking almost as guilty as she did whenever she had to drag a limping Lloyd back to her for healing from poison. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

Suppressing another sigh, Raine briefly checked her page number before closing the book in her hands. “Don’t worry. I’ve certainly had more obnoxious disturbances in my time. Lloyd and Genis always used to try and sneak up on me when they were younger. It was something of a game, I suppose, to see who could startle me the most.” Raine paused a moment, before adding, “though I’m not sure if ‘when they were younger’ is really accurate. And I’m surprised you didn’t manage to beat them both at it, considering the sorts of things your village seems to value”

“Oh, the ninja stuff?” Sheena laugh a bit, relaxing. “I can turn it off. Didn’t want to scare you, after all.”

Raine raised a single inquisitive eyebrow, noting with the smallest fraction of amusement how much Sheena seemed to blush under her direct stare. “Was there something you wanted?”

“Yeah, I… well, I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yeah.” Sheena moved a bit closer, walking around and settling down across from Raine. “For helping with Volt. If it hadn’t been for you, I never would have been able to make that pact.”

Raine waved a dismissive hand. “That’s nonsense. Any historian with a basic knowledge of the ancient language would have been able to translate Volt’s words. In fact, many of the scholars of your world probably would have had a much easier time of it. Yours was the truly impressive feat.”

“But you don’t know that. And even if they could have, that doesn’t change the fact that you stood by me and made it possible. You, and Lloyd, and everyone, you believed in me, even though you knew it was dangerous. Even though I’d failed before.” In her excitement, Sheena’s early embarrassment seemed to have burned completely off, and she leaned forward, determined to make her words stick.

Raine smiled, more than a little charmed by Sheena’s insistence on acknowledging her importance. She had never been one for idle flattery, but clearly this was more than that.

“Well,” she finally said, “in that case I am glad I was able to help. And rest assured, your past struggles are nothing to feel ashamed of. You were presented with an impossible situation. As soon as you were given the tools to address it properly, you performed beautifully, as I knew you would.”

The blush came back as quickly as it had disappeared. “W-well,” Sheena stuttered, trying to get her focus back, “anyway, I sort of wanted to… repay the favor I guess.”

“Oh? And how do you plan on doing that?” Most definitely more than idle flattery, then.

Sheena paused, clearly trying to chose her words carefully. “You can obviously say no, of course, I’m not trying to pressure you or anything. But you helped me with something that I’ve been afraid of for… well, for most of my life. And I’ve noticed how you are around the water.”

Raine could feel herself pale a bit at the mention, because her heartbeat instantly sped to a nervous pattern, and Sheena’s face reacted in kind, first falling into a shallow disappointment, and then bouncing to concern.

“It’s fine, like I said, you don’t have to, but I talked things over with Undine, and-”

“With Undine?” The mention of water had put Raine on edge, but her curiosity was almost enough to drown the rest of her fears out. “Talked what over?”

“You being afraid of swimming. And sailing too I guess. Anyway, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind helping.”

“And how exactly is the great Summon Spirit of Water going to help me get over my fear of drowning?”

Sheena’s face lit up, clearly encouraged. “Well, that’s what I talked to her about. She can kind of, float you, I guess. That way you don’t have to worry about anything but just trying to relax.” She paused, then added, almost guiltily, “plus, if that works, she can do other fun stuff too. Lloyd and I were messing around earlier, and it turns out she let us skate on the waves. Oh, and she can do this thing where she makes a bubble of air around you, so you can dive down and swim around for a while.” Trailing off, Sheena looked back to Raine, seemingly relieved to see her smiling faintly. “Anyway, I’m guessing that would probably be a bit much for a first time. But maybe if you just wanted to try the floating thing?”

Under normal circumstances, Raine was sure she wouldn’t even consider it. Sheena seemed so eager to please though, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t at least a little tickled by it. Raine spent a lot of time worrying over the others. Very rarely did anyone take the time to worry over her. It was a nice change, at least, even if her blood did turn a little cold at the thought of swimming. Finally, she sighed.

“Okay, let’s try it. I don’t have a swimsuit though.”

Sheena practically beamed. “Oh, we’ve got some back at the village. Come on, I’ll show you.” She hopped to her feet, quickly extending a hand down to Raine, who took it, shaking her head slightly. Sheena pulled her up gently but steadily, with one solid motion that sent Raine almost rocking on her heels. For a brief moment, she kept Raine’s hand, then quickly let go and turned back towards the village.

They walked mostly in silence, but it was a comfortable one, and Raine appreciated how easily Sheena fell into it. Around the others, Lloyd in particular, she tended to be quite talkative, even shouting across a battle at him when she downed an enemy first. When they had first met, Raine had assumed she was just a loud sort of person, gregarious as soon as the layer of shyness had worn away. Which wouldn’t have been bad either, but the truth was, Sheena was surprisingly good at being who people wanted her to be. She didn’t compromise herself; that was clear whenever she smacked Zelos on the back of the head for getting into her space, or being too handsy with one of the other girls. But Sheena was also quietly skilled at adapting from person to person, place to place. She didn’t seem to realize it, of course, and growing up in Mizuho that was hardly surprising, considering that seemed to be natural, even necessary, to how the village functioned.

Still, it made the quiet walk back feel just as easy as the loud tumbling conversations that happened when the whole group was together. If Raine found herself occasionally studying Sheena out of the corner of her eye, trying to sum up just why she enjoyed the private company more than expected, well, all the more reason to appreciate their time together.

She also found herself pleasantly surprised, once they reached the village, that there was quite a wide variety of swimsuits available, in design as well as size.

“Swimming at the lake is very popular here, especially this time of year when it gets so hot,” Sheena explained from the other side of the divider, where she was also changing. “And we never throw anything away, so there’s always something for whoever wants to go.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “it’s all clean though, if you were worried about that.”

“I wasn’t,” Raine replied, chuckling. “But that’s good to know anyways. Should we expect any company today?” She tried not to sound too wary, but in truth she wasn’t too fond of the possibility of panicking in front of a gaggle of small spy children. Slipping on the the light, breezy dress that Sheena had gotten to go over the suit, Raine grabbed a towel and stepped out of the changing room.

“Nah,” Sheena said, stepping out as well. “It’s usually only busy around the evening. And I already checked to make sure no one was out there today.”

Like Raine, Sheena had on a light cover-up, in her case something of a very long shirt that reached just past her knees, with a loose, open neck that sat widely across her shoulders and dipped down to show the deep maroon of her swimsuit. She looked almost startlingly at ease, a cockeyed grin plastered firmly across her face that reminded Raine that, despite Sheena’s usually pleasant and joking manner, they spent much of their time facing down monsters and threats to the world. Seeing her relaxed, in her hometown, looking forward to something simple and small, it made Raine’s breath catch, just momentarily, in her throat.

“Well, then,” she said, recovering quickly. “Shall we be off?” It was, perhaps, a little awkwardly formal.

Sheena played along well, however, sweeping into a deep bow. “After you, of course.” She then paused, half straightening, looking back up at Raine. “Well, I suppose you don’t know the way, do you.”

Raine, to her own amazement, giggled, and then immediately flushed a deep red. If Genis or Lloyd had been around, she would never have heard the end of it. Sheena, at least, was equally red, standing up fully and fidgeting a bit. They both stared for a second longer, then Raine collected herself once again.

“We should probably be going.”

Sheena caught up a moment after her, cooling down a few shades a smiling. “Yeah, here, I’ll show you the path we use.”

It was easy to see why the lake was a popular spot, once they got there. It was cool, and well shaded, and tucked away just enough to feel almost private, at least while it was just the two of them. Raine hesitantly made her way over to the water, sitting on a high bank and dangling her feet in while Sheena went down to the flatter beach portion and began preparing to summon Undine.

At least on the tips of her toes, the water felt nice. Fairly warm too, which was good, because it was always the cold that jarred Raine the most. If she stared at it for too long, she could feel her heartbeat stutter for a brief moment, but that was all. Swimming, of course, would be something else entirely, but she tried to enjoy a small victory while she could.

Around the side of the lake, there was a bright flash of light and Undine floated up from where Sheena stood. They both talked, briefly, then Sheena waved at Raine, a large, full-body gesture, swinging from side to side. Raine sighed, standing and walking over to them.

“Okay,” Sheena said, slipping off her cover-up and wading knee-deep into the water. “Undine is going to put her spell on you, to make sure you can’t sink. It will tingle a little bit, and then if you want, you can come in. Just as far as you feel comfortable, though.”

Raine nodded, waiting as the spirit chanted out an incantation and then fizzled into the sunlight, leaving her with something almost like a very light charge racing over her skin. Taking one hesitant step forward, she could already feel the difference. The water still lapped at her ankle, but it felt less present. Less threatening. Slipping off her dress as well, Raine took another step forward, than another, standing even with Sheena, who moved in a little farther, up to waist level.

“How does it feel?”

“Strange. I’d love to know the magic involved, actually. Is it a protection spell, like when I cast Barrier, or something entirely different? How long does it last? Is Undine actively maintaining the spell right now, or will it continue for a certain amount of time before wearing off?”

“A little nervous, eh?”

Raine looked, somewhat startled, to Sheena, who had continued to stay a few feet in front of her as she walked forward. “Nervous?”

“Well, I mean, maybe not. You can babble that much normally too. But I thought you might be trying to distract yourself.”

“Oh.” Raine let out the breath she hadn’t noticed she was partially holding, keeping tucked inside as if it would help her get out of there in a hurry should she need to. “Maybe a little bit. It is a very interesting process, however. And I am genuinely curious as to how it works.”

“Maybe you can ask Undine about it after. But for now, are you doing alright?”

It took a moment to come up with an answer for that. Raine still wasn’t deep enough that she would properly need to swim, but she could already feel the effects of the spell holding her up. It was reassuring, but she couldn’t help the slight rising panic when she thought of going out much deeper.

“I’m… uncertain.”

“Do you want to go back?”

“Perhaps a little bit, if you wouldn’t mind?”

Sheena smiled, tilting her head. “Of course not, let’s go.” She walked closer, reaching out and gently slipping her hand into Raine’s before waiting for her lead. For a second, Raine wanted to tell her that the gesture wasn’t necessary: though she was a little afraid, it was nothing she couldn’t handle, nothing she hadn’t handled before. But it was nice, and kind, and judging by how Sheena’s gaze was fixed very firmly on the surface of the water directly in front of her, an act that took a bit of bravery in itself.

They walked back together, halfway to shore, until the water was shallow enough that Rain could sit down, submerged to her waist. Sheena sat next to her, still not meeting her eyes, but smiling nonetheless.

Raine didn’t let go of her hand.

“Sheena?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for this. I know it might not seem like much, but I appreciate it.”

“It’s the least I could do, really.” Sheena glanced briefly over at her, then went back to her apparently firm duty staring down some creature at the center of the lake.

“In my experience, the least someone can do is nothing. And often that is all they can be bothered to try. And besides, you were very insistent on thanking me this morning, so it is only fair that I be equally insistent in return.”

“Well, in that case, thanks, I guess.”

It was nearly a moment. Nearly. The sun had begun a slow arc towards evening, just beginning to turn the tips of distant mountains pink and orange. There was a breeze and the water was nice, and they were still holding hands, and there was something soft and unspoken between them. Raine’s skin still tickled with magic, and she was already starting to form a theory on why, silently turning over what she had read about Summon Spirits in her head while she sat next to Sheena. Really, she should have known better than to think it would last.

At least, when Lloyd came barreling out of the foliage on the other side of the lake, shouting loudly and leaping off the bank before curling up into a tight ball and splashing in, Sheena jumped more than she did.

And she couldn’t complain much about having to let go of Sheena’s hand and make her way back to shore alone, not when it was because Sheena had immediately taken off in Lloyd’s direction, shouting something that sounded suspiciously like the chant to Summon Undine, a giant, evil smile plastered on her face.


End file.
